The Princess, the Giant, the Prince and the Monkey
by Ron4
Summary: LukeAnna with SethAnna undertones. As Anna packs for college, Luke accidentally reminds her of what once was. Standalone.


The Princess, the Giant, the Prince, and the Monkey 

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A/N:  You may have noticed that I've been in an Anna mood lately.  I don't know why, exactly, but I do that sometimes – get a new fascination with a character for a while.  Also, my readers seem to like the whole Luke/Anna thing that I started slipping in, and I like to write them, so here's more of it.

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            Anna smiles as she feels Luke's broad arms wrap around her waist.  She turns around to give him a quick kiss and tries to pull away from him.  She reminds him that she needs to finish packing for college and she'll be sure to make time for him when she's done.  He fakes a pout and sits down on her bed, telling her that he understands.

            She grins at him and pats his leg before sifting through her drawers, debating over which outfits to bring along and which ones to leave behind.  As she deliberates over red and black toe socks, her boyfriend begins to flip through a large photo album that had been sitting on her desk.

            Luke realizes that this must be an album that she started when she first moved to Newport Beach, last year, for many of the pictures are of Anna touring Tahiti.  As he turns the pages, however, he slightly scowls as he comes across pictures of Anna's then almost-boyfriend.  He never liked him then, but he's warmed up a lot since hooking up with Anna.  Still, it doesn't make Luke any more comfortable that Seth Cohen will be attending the same university as Anna.

            So Luke replaces the book and decides not to think of him and how he'll act around Anna in a few months, but to think of how Anna is, and how she'll never cheat on him.  Hypocritical, maybe, since he wasn't exactly known as the most dedicated boyfriend in the past.  But Luke has changed, and he knows that he doesn't need to worry about Anna.  It's just Cohen that he's wary of.

            He glances over to the pixyish seventeen-year-old that he was lucky enough to find as his girlfriend – who has moved from her dresser to her closet – and doesn't know why he isn't trying to stop her from leaving.

            It would be selfish of him.  And to change Anna's mind would be like beating a wild lion in a battle of brawn.  But he can't help feeling that he'll regret it if he doesn't at least _try _to say something to her.

            Which is why he gets up and paces a little.  He loses his nerve.  It's not worth it.  Anna has wanted to go to an ivy league since she was like… what, ten years old?  No, there's no way he's going to change his mind.  So he paces.  Pacing is good.

            Pacing back and forth, he notices the carefully placed sock monkey resting on a shelf.  How he's never noticed it before, he doesn't know.  But now it catches his attention and he feels like it's got a certain amount of significance behind it.  He ever so gently takes it down and says Anna's name softly, causing her to turn around, grin on her face.

            Her eyes at first fall on Luke's curious face, but almost immediately shift to the vintage plush in his hand.  Her smile falls and she turns back to the closet.

            More confused by her reaction, he walks up to her and asks her where she got it.

            She knows how he feels about the friendship she and Seth share, so she tells him it's just a symbol of her past.  A representation of what never was and never could be.

            Obviously he wonders what she means, and he asks.  She tells him that it's nothing he needs to worry about.  She snatches the toy away from him, almost ripping one of its arms off in the process.  She gently tucks it away into her large trunk.

            Luke doesn't question her anymore.  It's a sensitive subject to her and he doesn't want to cause her any pain.  He wishes that she felt she could share anything with him, but he knows how it feels to want to pour your heart out to someone, but the person you want to tell is always the person you can't.

            So Luke lies on Anna's bed, a giant on a princess's bed.  But unlike most princesses, this one didn't get the happy ending.  This one didn't get her Prince Charming.

            All that this one got was a silly stuffed toy.

            And as Luke falls asleep, Anna wipes away the single tear that begins its lonely trip down her cheek.

**_end_**


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